Wellness

[gardenman]

Brewhaha. I've got to think the Rams will trade down given a chance. If they can get another RGIII type package from a team looking to trade up to get a quarterback, then they should move down. The Rams are in pretty good shape. Their only real issue is the competition in the NFC West. There's not a bad team in that division.

Johnny Manziel strikes me as being a huge risk to draft. He's getting a ton of press and attention, but I'm thinking he'll slide back down the draft board as the draft nears. He's just got too many scary things about him (build, pocket awareness, maturity, hesitation throwing and preference to run, etc.) for me to take a chance on him. There are too many "sure things" to take a chance on a high risk guy early. There are around forty guys this year with first round grades on them who are all a safer investment. I don't think Manziel will drop out of the first round, but I don't see him going in the top ten. The risk/reward is really high with Manziel and I think there may only be a ten percent chance of getting the reward from Manziel and 90% risk of failure. There are lots of guys in the first round who have the opposite risk/reward ratio and I'd rather use my pick on a guy who's 90% likely to succeed than a guy who's 10% likely to succeed. Manziel also is bringing with him the media circus we last saw with Tim Tebow. I'm not sure a lot of teams want that.

[teganslaw]

One of the main priorities of the Colts is to re sign CB Vontea Davis. He is just weeks from becoming a free agent, and the team doesn't want to franchise him unless it's necessary. They are into contract talks with him right now.

They also want to retain Antoine Bethea, who is close to being a free agent. Contract talks will be resuming with him.

I haven't been watching the Combine, just get the results afterwards. I'm not familiar with many of the draft prospects except for the ones who are in the headlines all the time. Mayock has mentioned that he would be wary of Clowney as a top pick. The guy has talent, but is he the right material for the pressures of the NFL? And would he stay focused enough to contribute? It will be interesting to see exactly where some of these players end up.

[gardenman]

These next two weeks will be pretty crazy with teams trying to resign guys before they become free agents.

Jadeveon Clowney is one of those guys you hate to have to pick from in the draft. He was dominant in college football in 2012 and seemed like the sure thing, first overall pick this year. Then he more or less took 2013 off to protect himself and save himself for the draft and the NFL. If you go by what he did last year, he's probably a late first round pick. If you go by what he did the year before he's the first overall pick. Does he play hard when he goes to the pros, or does he take the money and roll over and play dead? I have no idea. You hate to be in position to take a guy who could be the best to ever play the position, or could be a big bust and that's what Clowney is. He's a high risk/high reward player and those guys can drive you nuts. His interviews and individual meetings with teams will likely determine where he goes. If he impresses teams, he's likely to go first or second overall. If he doesn't impress in the interviews he's likely to drop a bit, maybe a lot. There are a good solid ten to twenty "can't miss" kids who you're safe drafting, and then there's a Clowney and Manziel who both scare you to death. They could be great or they could both be out of football in a couple of years. You just don't know.

[brewhaha]

If Jadeveon Clowney had Chris Long's motor and work ethic, there's no doubt he would be the first pick.

At the halfway point of the combine, it's looking really good for the Rams. Assuming their top two priorities are T & WR, both positions are three-deep as far as legitimate first half of the first round players. The NFL Network experts thinks the top three T in this draft are better than the first three taken last year and they went 1, 2 & 4. I think Jake Matthews might be the most NFL ready pass blocker but both Greg Robinson & Taylor Lewan have huge upsides. They both are really good athletes. The WR that intrigues me is Mike Evans. At 6' 5" and 230 lbs, he's almost as big as Calvin Johnson. He ran a 4.5 and he's got very good hands. I'm sure the Rams could still get these players even if they trade down and get more picks in a very deep draft.

I know I'm getting old when the sons of players I used to watch are in or about to be in the NFL. If we take Jake Matthews, we will have three of them (Chris Long & T.J. McDonald).

[gardenman]

It is weird when you see the kids of guys you still think of as young players playing in college and entering the pros. I'm pretty sure I've seen three generations of Matthews playing college and soon pro ball. Oh man, am I getting old.

[gardenman]

Oy, the Browns. Like their poor head coach doesn't already have enough problems, now word leaks out that they tried to trade for Jim Harbaugh before "settling" for Pettine. In the last month they've fired the two guys who hired the new head coach. They've made it clear he was somewehre around twelfth on their list of coaches. and now they've set him up to have his record compared to Harbaugh's for the next few seasons. Good luck coach. You're going to need it. The Browns are clearly trying to earn the title as the most discombobulated franchise in the NFL.

[brewhaha]

I bet Trent Richardson is very happy he got traded. What a mess.

My favorite player in the draft is (brew) Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.

I heard Monica Lewinsky is going to sell a marijuana cigar in Colorado and call it Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.

[gardenman]

In a bit of a surprising move the Eagles signed Jason Peters (our left offensive tackle) to a contract extension through 2018. The Eagles don't generally sign older players to long term extensions. Jason Peters is 32 years old now and will be 37-38 when the contract expires. He's a dominant left tackle and those guys are hard to find, so it's a good move by the Eagles.

[gardenman]

And the Eagles are staying busy. Reports indicate they'll sign Riley Cooper (wide receiver) to a four year deal later today and Jason Kelce (center) to an extension also. Reports indicate that Jeremy Maclin (wide receiver) will also be inking a new deal soon. It looks like the Eagles are using a lot of their cap space to resign their known guys and spend less on the unknowns from other teams. The Eagles' wide receiver corps is looking pretty well stocked if those two guys sign. Cooper, Maclin, DeSean Jackson, make a pretty impressive trio. Add in Arrelius Benn (if he can ever stay healthy), Jeff Maehl, BJ Cunningham, Damaris Johnson, Ifeanyi Momah, Brad Smith and Will Murphy and you've got a pretty impressive group of bodies available for Nick Foles to throw to. In fact, we've got so many bodies if those two guys sign that you suspect one or more of the presumed starters could be trade bait at some point. What would a team give up to get a DeSean Jackson? Kansas City would be an obvious trade partner. Would they part with their first round pick to get Jackson? They need a playmaking wide receiver. He's ready to step in and play now unlike a kid they'd draft who would need a year or two to adjust to the NFL. It'll be interesting to see what happens there.